Telling stories with colourful dots

I learn from the data visualisations I get from my knowledge graph when it is depicted as colourful nodes. Brian Petro explains it better than me.

When I see a graph like the one above, I can select sources for deeper dives into the content by opening their underlying notes. Smart Connections inside my Obsidian vault gives me quick summaries that anchor the area I’ve tapped to open.

Then I can copy all or part of the selection as wikilinks. Those wikilinks turn a region of interest into a reading list or a reading trail.

If I want to connect the text to deeper information that may sit in another one of my personal knowledge network, I send the selection into Smart Context to start well-focused work with another location like my Google Drive where Claude can access.

And if that little excursion doesn’t focus my effort, I make a tighter slice of the graph. The shape and sizes of those colourful graphs often tells a story faster than a concise paragraph or bulleted list.